Son Heung-min netted his first MLS goal of the season as he helped Los Angeles FC to a 3-0 victory over their derby rivals, the LA Galaxy.

Mark Delgado, formerly of the Galaxy, and Denis Bouanga were also on target as LAFC returned from the World Cup break with a win.

It was a cagey start to the match, but LAFC found the breakthrough in the 26th minute as Jacob Shaffelburg picked out Delgado with a right-sided cross. The American's first header was blocked, but he pounced on the rebound to fire in the opener.

The Galaxy stepped up the pressure after that, with Joseph Paintsil getting a tame effort on target, but they fell further behind just before the break.

Both Shaffelburg and Bouanga were hacked down in the box, with the referee pointing to the spot after the latter, and the Gabon international squeezed his spot-kick past Novak Micovic on the stroke of half-time.

Son, who saw a low drive pushed away early in the second half, added their third in the 57th minute. After playing a one-two with Delgado, he curled his low strike into the bottom-left corner.

Marco Reus and Lucas Sanabria both saw chances go to waste as the Galaxy attempted a late fightback, but it was too little, too late.

While LAFC closed in on the top two in the Western Conference, Nashville SC – leaders of the East – also came back with a win as Shak Mohammed's goal earned them a 1-0 victory over Atlanta United, moving them five points clear at the top of the table.

Son finds his shooting boots

Son had 39 shots across his first 13 appearances in MLS this season without hitting the back of the net, but he finally ended that drought.

From those 39 attempts, he had racked up 3.7 expected goals (xG) and had 10 efforts on target, while also hitting the woodwork once without any luck.

And he was desperate to score on Saturday, having six shots against the Galaxy – more than any other player on the pitch – while only Bouanga (eight) had more touches in the box than his four.

LAFC have now won back-to-back matches in MLS without conceding, a huge improvement on their run of four matches without a win before beating the Seattle Sounders (D1 L3), and they are now just five points behind the top two, who both have games in hand.